The Transcendent World

His head ached.

It took Ji Zhixing half a class period to finally sort through the churning, chaotic memories and ascertain one fact.

He had been reincarnated, and moreover, this was a transcendent world.

His past self had only retained a fraction of memories from his previous life, but now he finally recalled everything.

The memories are too messy, Ji Zhixing thought with an inner sigh. At least I've figured it out, though-this is a world of Gene Cultivators.

He turned his head toward the window.

On the sports field, two students from another class were engaged in intense combat under a teacher's guidance.

A tall, thin boy raised his right hand, and seven or eight barbed blue vines intertwined into a long whip, lashing toward his opponent with a piercing sonic boom.

Another boy with a flat top let out a low roar from his throat, kicked off the ground, and leaped sideways like a big cat, arriving six or seven meters away in an instant.

Yet the moment he landed, blue frost condensed on the ground, causing his figure to sway. Amidst this tiny delay, that whip-like vine followed like a shadow and struck again!

"Qi Xingzhou's Blue Frost Ice Vine Gene is truly strong. Among the Gene Cultivators at our school who have fused with Second-Order Genes, I'm afraid no one is his match."

"Shi Xiangyang's Three-Eyed Tiger Cat Gene isn't weak either, it's just that he was countered."

The two students in the front row leaned against the window looking out, clicking their tongues in admiration.

Listening to their words, Ji Zhixing slowly pieced together the newly fused memory fragments in his head.

Everyone in this world had a chance to open their Gene Apertures, fuse genes of the corresponding tier, and acquire special genetic abilities.

Qi Xingzhou down on the field had, two years ago, opened a Second-Order Gene Aperture and fused with the Second-Order Blue Frost Ice Vine Gene, which had a relatively high compatibility with him.

"Tomorrow we're going to choose our genes. I wonder which kind of gene I'll have a higher compatibility with."

Luo Yongguang, seated directly in front of him, revealed a look of anticipation in his eyes.

"It's useless. Both of us only awakened First-Order Gene Apertures, so we can only fuse First-Order genes. It's simply too hard to achieve anything."

Zhang Haocheng, whose hair was half-balding and styled into a stubborn tuft above his right ear, turned his head to look at Ji Zhixing. "Out of everyone in our class right now, only Ji Zhixing and those two who awakened Second-Order Gene Apertures might be able to catch up to Qi Xingzhou."

"I actually think that compared to the initial gene tier, the level of compatibility with the gene is equally important," Ji Zhixing said, withdrawing his gaze from outside the window.

"That's right." Luo Yongguang also nodded. "Both the books and the teachers say that if compatibility with the gene is high, even a low-tier gene can evolve into a high-tier gene."

"Gene evolution? Heh."

Zhang Haocheng shook his head, saying with disdain, "We shouldn't even bother thinking about such things. Among all those low-tier genes, how many end up evolving to a high tier?"

Ji Zhixing looked out the window once more and did not pick up on the topic.

More than two thousand years ago, Blue Star was much like his previous life-a technological world as well.

Until one day, a drastic change occurred in the heavens and earth.

Countless different-sized different dimensions melted into Blue Star like foam, bringing violent energy tides and spatial rule disturbances.

Blue Star's native flora and fauna began to mutate wildly under the infiltration of the energy, and countless unprecedented new species were born out of thin air.

At the same time, humans also acquired the ability to open Gene Apertures and fuse genes during that cataclysm.

Two thousand years later, the might of powerful Gene Cultivators approached near-mythical legends.

Take their Xia Kingdom, for example, where powerhouses had fused with the Overwhelming Sea Flood Dragon Gene, their dragon might shaking the heavens and stirring up oceans.

The West also possessed holy figures who fused with the Angel Gene, their holy light illuminating everything and purifying all things.

Powerful Gene Cultivators not only held lofty statuses, but also possessed exceptionally long lifespans far surpassing ordinary people.

To this day, ancient figures who survived the cataclysm from two thousand years ago still existed on Blue Star, and each one possessed the terrifying strength to move mountains and fill seas.

Tomorrow I have to choose a gene, so what should I do then?

Ji Zhixing's thoughts churned.

Such a magnificent world where personal might belonged to the individual was precisely the picture he had once dreamed of.

Naturally, he harbored an incomparable yearning to become a Gene Cultivator and set foot on the path of transcendence.

However...

His consciousness sank deep within his body.

Unlike the vast majority of people.

In his perceptual field, there were two Gene Apertures inside his body.

Dual Gene Apertures meant that theoretically, two different genes could be fused, and the combination of abilities would hold many more possibilities.

This was undoubtedly a tremendously good thing, as well as an extremely rare circumstance.

Yet, those two Gene Apertures of his were both merely one inch in circumference according to his senses.

A one-inch Gene Aperture was the definitive hallmark of a First-Order Gene Aperture.

When I fuse genes tomorrow, the lie I've been telling for two and a half years is going to fall apart.

Ji Zhixing knitted his brows tightly.

In this life, before completely awakening the past-life memories, he was an utter bastard.

Two and a half years ago, after awakening his Gene Aperture, he claimed to the outside world that he had awakened a Second-Order Gene Aperture in order to obtain more resources.

Yet in reality, just like Luo Yongguang and Zhang Haocheng, the one he had awakened was merely a First-Tier Gene Aperture.

And now...

Two and a half years had passed, his Gene Aperture had stabilized, and he would soon be able to choose a gene fusion.

This also meant that the lie he had been telling for two and a half years was about to be exposed.

Being mocked by classmates is nothing, Ji Zhixing felt heavy-hearted. But how am I supposed to face the parents of this life?

The faces of his parents in this life surfaced in his mind; both of them were ordinary people who had not awakened a Gene Aperture, and every single cent they earned was hard-earned.

To help him accelerate the stabilization of his Gene Aperture, the two of them had taken out most of the family's savings to buy him all sorts of nutritional supplements.

How could the me of this life be stupid to such a degree? Ji Zhixing felt bitter inside. To actually tell this kind of lie destined to be exposed.

What should I do?

Should I just go home and confess?

Ji Zhixing was incomparably conflicted.

He even suspected whether he had been some sort of intellectual disabled person, or if his brain had been kicked by a door before his past-life memories awakened.

If his family were wealthy, it wouldn't be much of an issue.

The crucial point was that his family was as poor as a church mouse.

In order to buy him various nutritional supplements to quickly stabilize his Gene Aperture and fuse genes, the money in his family over the past two years had almost all been spent on him.

He would rather take a severe beating.

Yet he truly dared not imagine what kind of disappointed or even despairing expressions would appear on the faces of his parents, who held fervent hopes, once they learned the truth.

Wait...

Just as Ji Zhixing's mind was in turmoil and he prepared to withdraw his consciousness from within his body, suddenly, he noticed that a baffling change had actually occurred within the Gene Furnace inside his body.

The Gene Furnace was the Dantian of a cultivator.

All Gene Cultivators, before fusing genes, had to use the Gene Furnace to refine the chosen genes before they could merge them into the Gene Aperture.

What is this?

An Eight Trigrams Diagram?

Could this have something to do with that furnace I picked up before crossing over?

Ji Zhixing discovered that a strange pattern had actually appeared inside his Gene Furnace.

For now, the pattern was still incomplete.

Yet he could still make it out, knowing that this pattern was precisely the Eight Trigrams Diagram from the palm-sized furnace he had picked up before his transmigration.

What is going on?

Is my Gene Furnace actually about to turn into the Eight Trigrams Furnace?

Can it still be used after this change?

If it can be used, what gene should I choose tomorrow?

Could it be that it wants me to choose a simian-type gene?

In a split second, numerous absurd yet faintly expectant thoughts flashed through Ji Zhixing's mind.

There was no need to doubt it; his ability to reincarnate into this wondrous world of gene cultivation was nine times out of ten inseparable from that bizarre black furnace he had picked up before crossing over.

Right now, he could only pray that the changes brought by this furnace were good ones and could help him tide over the immediate crisis.